Yesterday I set up a personal chat channel / server in the Discord universe, another door opened into my online presence. Basically, just because I could.
Chat rooms on the Internet are interesting places and I've visited many over the decades. Usually I lurk until I become too offended by the obnoxious behavior of the trolls or idiots that frequent such places, then I quietly leave.
Some well-moderated rooms, especially those that focus on a particular theme or purpose, contain polite, knowledgeable dialog among members. Those are pleasant places to visit. I've found a few like that over the years, and have even served as room moderator at the request of the room owners occasionally.
Recently I've been waiting for a certain social media platform which shall remain unnamed to restart its chat room feature. That platform has promised restart deadlines over and over again which have not yet been met. Very frustrating, that.
My setting up this Hey Roscoe chat room is probably mostly a reaction to that frustration. I don't really expect anyone (other than me) to ever visit it. But... there it is.
Posting the screenshot above is part of my SevenTwo Project for this week.
#personal #screenshot #SevenTwoProject
by Roscoe
... I'm finally ready to start transcribing.
Last week at our monthly business meeting the Recorder (Recording Secretary) was absent and I was asked to take the minutes of the meeting. Though that's a chore I don't particularly enjoy, (honestly, who does?), I agreed to do it.
While the meeting is in progress I do two things: I run a voice recorder app on my phone, and I take down notes with pen on paper. Then, when I can find a solid block of uninterrupted time in my home office, I'll: 1.) copy the recorded audio file onto my computer, 2.) open a template in my word processor, 3.) set my handwritten notes nearby for ready reference, and 4.) begin transcribing the minutes of the meeting into the word processor as I listen to the audio.
The photo above shows the tools all in place and ready for me to start. Sometimes I can breeze through the process and have an acceptable draft of the minutes ready to print in just a few short hours. Other times... well, I hope this will be one of the easy times. But with my glaucoma and cataracts acting up, this could take a few days.
#SevenTwoProject #SeniorLiving #health #personal #chores
by Roscoe
Today I am 71 years old, plus one day.
Yesterday I was so surprised to find a birthday balloon, gift bags, and a card waiting for me on the table by my chair in the front room shortly after I woke. Sylvia had set it all up while I was sleeping.
#SeniorLiving #personal #birthday
by Roscoe
... sort of.
Insomnia has always been something I've had to deal with. Waking in the middle of the night has become such a frequent habit for me that I've come to think of myself as a natural segmented-sleeper.
Often I'll put head to pillow by 10:00 PM or so, wake fully after about three or four hours, then spend another hour or two working at the keyboard or surfing the Internet before falling asleep again. With two alarms set, one for 5:00 AM and the second for 6:00 AM, to ensure I'm awake enough to start the coffee and wake up the wife and help her so she can be at work on time, I'm hard-pressed to get the seven or eight hours of sleep I need. Especially if my “insomnia break” lasts longer than two hours, as it frequently does.
If I eat too much too close to bedtime, my insomnia will be accompanied by a touch of indigestion. That's why the “Antacid” tablets are on the table near my bed. Chewing a few will sometimes help me fall asleep again.
And during the allergy season these insomnia episodes are often accompanied by purely evil sinus woes. Hence the allergy pills are kept close, too.
These over-the-counter medicines don't always put me back to sleep, but sometimes they do.
#SevenTwoProject #SeniorLiving #personal #health
by Roscoe
Yesterday I received a text message from the Grand Knight of my Knights of Columbus Council here in San Antonio, TX. He told me about a temporary situation our Council is facing and asked me, as one of his officers, for my help. Of course, I told him I'd be happy to help.
This morning I found the above image sent to me by a brother Knight in the Philippines. It's the cover of a publication from his District pertaining to their mid-year organizational meeting. God willing, I'll be meeting some of my brother Knights of the Visayas Jurisdiction later this year when I'm in Cebu City.
Whether I'm here in South Texas, or 8,500 miles away in the Philippines, I'll be connected to and working with my brother Knights. It is comforting to know that.
#SevenTwoProject #SeniorLiving #personal #KnightsOfColumbus
by Roscoe
As this first day of 2020 begins it finds me quietly working in my home office. January's paper planner pages have replaced December's in the binder, and a record of my daily activities has begun.
The posting of this snapshot starts a new project. (You all know I love my projects, right?) As I turn 72 y/o this month, we'll call this my Seven – Two project. Each week of this year (a block of seven days) I'll try to post two pictures to Roscoe's Journal and I may occasionally share them elsewhere. These will be snapshots taken by me, or pictures taken of me, or something I dredge up from one of my archives scattered hither and yon. We'll see what I come up with. It could be fun.
Hope you all have a happy 2020, and may you enjoy your projects, too.
#SevenTwoProject #SeniorLiving #photography #personal
by Roscoe
... and less than a week to go until New Years Day. This seems like an appropriate time to share a few thoughts about the year soon to end and the one about to start.
Health-wise I have my sixth primary care doctor in the six years I've been enrolled in the US medicare system. I have not been displeased with any of my previous doctors, nor have they been displeased with me. The changes mostly came from insurance company and medical group realignments. For a 71 year old man I'm in acceptably good health, and I'm thankful for that. Routine lab work done every six moths or so with the followup doctor appointments allow me to keep a close enough watch on my physical condition.
A new eye doctor this past summer gave me the most thorough eye exam I've ever had, and gave me a diagnosis I've never had: compound cataracts in both eyes. They're not quite bad enough to require surgery that my insurance will pay for, but they're headed in that direction. The best corrective lenses I can be prescribed only give me 20/40 vision. When I can no longer be corrected to better than 20/50 I'll qualify for eye surgery. The doctor expects degeneration to that point will be very gradual. But it's still something we'll need to monitor on a yearly basis. The doctor chuckled when he said, “You know, you'll never have 18-year-old eyes again.”
Hopefully 2020 will see a major change in my living situation. S and I are planning a summer vacation to the Philippines which may well be extended to a permanent move. Getting the logistics worked out for that is challenging. Complicating this is the very recent news that the Philippines may be changing the visa requirements for US citizens entering their country. It still isn't clear if, what, and when those changes will be made, but I'm following that news very closely.
All things considered I feel good about my 2019 and I'm looking forward to my 2020 with joyful expectation.
#SeniorLiving #personal
by Roscoe
09:30 on Christmas morning finds things quiet in the house.
My main chores of the day are already accomplished. I've done my cat-sitting duty for the next door neighbor while she's on vacation (made sure water and cat food are set out, cleaned the cat litter). And I've loaded Sylvia's PM pill boxes for another week.
This afternoon I'll be taking Sylvia out to see a movie. Hope we enjoy Jumanji: The Next Level as much as we did Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle when we saw it at the theater. I suspect we will. Lots of light-hearted laughter, good for the soul.
And the adventure continues.
#SeniorLiving #personal #chores
by Roscoe
Waking early, I texted the next door neighbor lady to wish her a happy vacation and to verify the cat sitting I'll be doing for her while she's gone. She has a number of inside cats (4 or 5? I'm not sure) and I'll be checking on them every 2 days or so, cleaning the litter box, and putting out fresh food and water. She'll be gone a little over two weeks, so no big deal.
I took S out to brunch at one of our favorite restaurants and have just sent her out to get her nails done for Christmas. That's always a big deal for her, getting the nails done. Seems rather silly to me, and needlessly expensive, but it makes her happy. So...
And I spent nearly an hour out in the front yard with the leaf blower. Every week the city empties my big organics bin and I'm thinking it may take a month or so for them to haul away those leaves. Then I'll start on the back yard leaves. And then it will be time to start mowing the grass on a regular basis. Yardwork. Boo!
Now I'm relaxing in front of the TV, watching my woeful Dallas Cowboys trying to lose another football game.
And the adventure continues.
#SenioLiving #personal #chores
by Roscoe
... today's gloomy, drizzly rain has been welcome. It's kept me inside where I can rest.
Taking S to dinner this evening then doing a bit of shopping before we return home will be enough extra activity for today. We'll see what the weather's like tomorrow. Maybe I'll get some more work done on the front yard then. Maybe.
#SeniorLiving #personal #chores
by Roscoe